2018: Japanese Year of the Airbrush

So it’s 2019 (It’s been 2019 for a while – Ed.) and what better time than the beginning sort of the beginning of the year to reflect on all the wonderful things that happened in 2018.

Like many in the Beard Bunker, 2018 was the year of getting some of my bigger projects off the table and into the display cabinet. In particular, and following my moderate success with a Panther, I could finally start seriously using the airbrush – and for me, 2018 was the year of the airbrush.

First up, I got two ‘Nauts finished.

Dorkanaut

Borkanaut

I also gave them something to carry around and effectively started a Blood Axe faction for my Ork army at the same time. 

Mek

My first Camo

Skorcha & Doc

Dakka and Dakkaer

Overheat? Never? 

The Badmoon Nobs / Flashgitz are conversions I built for a campaign that finished in 2010. There's nothing like finishing something just in time, and this was nothing like finishing something just in time.  

Later on in the year, I painted two fantasy models that have been sitting around for years waiting for a coat of paint.

Warpfire Dragon

The Bloated Pig, Free House

I then went completely mad and painted something that was neither an Ork nor a Skaven (Madness) and completed an Astra Militarum Kill Team. The team is a commercial mining team led by squats and mostly consists of hired combat engineers.

L-R: Bodyguard, Commander, Pitboss

The Squats were given to me by my cousin and were some of the first miniatures I ever owned. I chose a muted paint scheme with a hint of 90’s dayglo for the nostalgia factor

The Squat with the 12 Gauge (my pitboss) is a Heresy Miniatures dwarf miner I’ve had kicking around for an age.I painted him in working orange coveralls, HiVis tabard and a Black Hat*. 

I made the hat look plasticky by giving it a coat of gloss varnish after painting and I spent a little longer than usual on the gun – trying to make it look a bit more like a Purdey than a mass-produced weapon.

In case anyone is interested, I’ve included the homebrewed weapon stats I use for the shotguns below. They seem to be roughly on par with their las equivalents in terms of balance i.e., I still lose all the time. 

Weapon	Type	Range	Strength	AP	Damage	Notes
Combat Shotgun	Assault 2	12”	3	-	1	Ignores modifiers for shooting over half range
Hot Shot 12 Bore (Purdey)	Assault 2	12”	3	-2	1	Ignores modifiers for shooting over half range

And that was it for me for 2018. I did make a start on a pretty massive project which I won’t reveal yet, but here’s a sneak peek…

In terms of 2019, my first goal is to nail the big project. After that, I intend to get my neglected Gobbo Bloodbowl team finished. 

*In the Dark Grimness of the 41^st Millennium, Build UK still dictate hat colours on construction sites.